CBIZ Small Business Employment Index surges in May

The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, a barometer of hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased sharply again in May, continuing a strong performance this spring.

CBIZ Payroll Services, the unit of CBIZ Inc. (NYSE: CBZ) that produces the index, said it increased by 1.57% last month, building on momentum from a 1.25% increase in April and a 1.01% increase in March. The index had declined by 0.4% in February.

The CBIZ data are in contrast with the ADP survey for May, which came in below Wall Street estimates. The payroll processor, along with Moody’s Analytics, revealed that May slowed in overall hiring with 179,000 jobs being added, missing the 210,000 estimate, according to CBIZ.

“Our analysis of the data covered by the CBIZ SBEI shows that small businesses have sustained their staff headcount growth month over month, with May being the strongest month for hiring in 2014 among employers with fewer than 300 employees,” said Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services, in a news release.

Noftsinger said May tends to be a stronger-than-average month for small business hiring, but this year’s data shows an even more robust report.

“From a historical perspective, the SBEI typically lands in positive territory in the May period, although this May is the second highest in the past five years of our data — trailing only May 2013 when we saw an increase of 1.91 percent,” he said.

Morning Roundup

Business headlines from Crain's Cleveland Business and other Ohio newspapers — delivered FREE to your inbox every morning. Sign up for the Morning Newsletter.